Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional seal member taking-out device. This seal member taking-out device includes a base, a conveying plate, a conveying base, a conveying cylinder, and an elevating cylinder. The base is a flat plate spreading horizontally. The conveying plate is also a flat plate spreading horizontally. The conveying plate is provided with a plurality of elongate holes each extending therethrough in a thickness direction and further extending in a right-left direction. The conveying plate is located above the base and coupled to the base to be in parallel to the base. The conveying base is a flat plate spreading horizontally. The conveying base is disposed under the conveying plate to be in parallel to the conveying plate. The conveying base is provided with a plurality of positioning pins extending upward from an upper surface thereof. The positioning pins are inserted through the elongate holes provided in the conveying plate so that distal ends of the positioning pins can protrude upward from the upper surface of the conveying plate. The conveying base is movable in a right-left direction relative to the conveying plate with the positioning pins protruding above the conveying plate. The conveying cylinder can horizontally reciprocate the conveying base. The elevating cylinder can vertically reciprocate the conveying base.
This seal member taking-out device can convey and take out seal members (O-rings) each having an annular shape. First, seal members are placed on the upper surface of the conveying plate. Next, the elevating cylinder is driven to move the conveying base upward so that three positioning pins are inserted through the elongate holes of the conveying plate and the distal ends of the positioning pins protrude above the conveying plate. In this case, the positioning pins abut against the left side of an inner peripheral surface of the seal member. In more detail, a first one of the positioning pins abuts against an inner left end of the annular shape of the seal member, and second and third positioning pins are respectively disposed 45° away from the first one clockwise and counterclockwise about a central axis of the annular shape. Subsequently, the conveying cylinder is driven to move the conveying base leftward, so that the distal ends of the positioning pins are moved leftward while protruding above the conveying plate with the result that the seal member is conveyed leftward. Subsequently, the elevating cylinder is driven to move the conveying base downward, so that the distal ends of the positioning pins are moved downward under the conveying plate. Subsequently, the conveying cylinder is driven to move the conveying base rightward. Thus, this seal member taking-out device can convey and take out the seal members while the seal members are each maintained in the annular shape.